Nilesh Thomas
Professor and Dean,
The True School of Music
Vijaybhoomi University

Music and entertainment are among the fastest-growing industries today, globally and in India. Digital media and the internet have broken down the geographical boundaries, making the entire global population a potential audience to music and entertainment.

While considering potential career opportunities in music and entertainment, it is very common for many to limit the thinking to the obvious – a singer or a music director, or an actor, etc.

For clear reasons as to how many could become successful in such roles, these are often considered risky career options and avoided (or encouraged to avoid). The truth of the matter is that there is a wide range of lucrative and exciting career possibilities in this field, which are increasingly becoming interdisciplinary in nature. Hundreds of professionals with expertise in technology, creative arts, marketing, legal affairs, finance, etc. work behind every hit song or a movie or video game, while only a few faces see the limelight. That’s simply the nature of the business. One has to think of this akin to an iceberg, where the tip is the one that we often see (the mainstream, artists) while the entire balancing act and floating is supported by what is underneath.

Technology has always been an integral part of the music and media industry, and this is only getting amplified going forward. A Microsoft commissioned report estimates that media and entertainment experiences enabled by 5G will generate up to $1.3 trillion in revenue by 2028. Companies like Sony are already experimenting with “Immersive Reality” music concert experiences, while entertainment content companies are preparing to deliver mixed reality movie and gaming experiences to consumers using VR/AR/XR. All these calls for an uninterrupted supply of a global talent pool, who are exceptionally creative and with mastery of cutting edge technology.

Blockchain has made its stride into the music and entertainment industry, and it is here to stay. Intellectual Property (IP) is the backbone of the media industry and blockchain has the potential to protect IP and increase profits for content creators. Blockchain brings a number of opportunities to music and entertainment content creators, especially for smaller players such as individuals or startups. Blockchain technology allows secure and cost-effective micropayments for content on a pay-per-use basis, enabling musicians or writers to directly distribute content to consumers, avoid intermediaries and increase their revenue share, supports accurate collection and distribution of royalty payments for music or digital artforms on a global scale, and most importantly, enables transparent C2C sale of copyrighted content that will lead to improved monetisation of creative content.

This possibility of democratized, fair and equal access to the market for every aspiring creative individual also opens up huge opportunities for legal and business services at a micro-level. The laws of content rights exploitation are evolving fast with the changes in technology and medium that supports the distribution and management of such content. Marketing of creative content to the potential consumer has become highly personalised, far away from the broadcast approach to micro casting. While Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) could bring immense potential to an aspiring songwriter or a digital artist from Silchar or Vadodara, well informed and exceptionally creative support ecosystems across business, law and technology are required to fully tap into this wide creative talent pool hidden in our country, and to transform their creative potential into meaningful contributions to the country’s economy.

The True School of Music (TSM) at Vijaybhoomi University was founded by Ashutosh Phatak (Ashu), an avid music composer, producer and entrepreneur, and Nitin Chandy who is an established sound engineer. Having worked in the Indian music industry for over two decades, they felt the strong need to create a professional training ecosystem to educate aspiring music professionals to make music their long term sustainable career, while empowering learners to bring positive change, innovation and global competitiveness to the Indian music industry.

True School has a unique educational philosophy, to equip learners to achieve their personal aspirations while maintaining a clear and in-depth awareness of the professional industry and the opportunities it presents. “Musicpreneurship” is a core focus of the undergraduate courses offered by TSM at VU, with a vision to enable graduates to create successful portfolio careers in an increasingly global Gig economy. This is supported by a range of courses taught by an international faculty team that develop interdisciplinary competencies and 21st Century skills, and ample opportunities for professional development through active industry engagement and real-world work opportunities.